Doctors delay switching off tragic Archie's life support as mum vows to fight 'to the bitter end'

3 August 2022, 08:41 | Updated: 3 August 2022, 14:53

• Family submits last-ditch bid to European court to prolong the boy’s life, just 120 minutes before his life support was due to be removed
• Decision could take up to 24 hours and could come back earlier
• Hospital delays removing life support until court ruling comes back
• Family says doctors in Japan, Italy and Turkey have offered to treat him outside the UK

Archie Battersbee's mother speaks to LBC

Archie Battersbee's doctors have "got it wrong", his mother has insisted after launching a last ditch bid to keep him alive.

Hollie Dance said she is "running on empty" after weeks of legal challenges but had promised she would fight to the "bitter end... the right for my son to live".

"Inside I'm broke... at some point I am going to need serious therapy but I haven't got time to think about me at the minute, this is a serious fight for my son's life and I'm up against the biggest system and a trust."

Archie's parents submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday in a last-ditch bid to delay the withdrawal of his life support, which was due to be turned off at 11am.

Barts Health NHS Trust said it would not be postponed unless the family submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights by 9am, which they said they have managed to do.

"I am gonna stand here and say doctors do get it wrong," she said outside the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. "I'm saying that they've got it wrong in this case."

"Other countries are so supportive... they want to take Archie, they've been offering treatment, they've got high success rates," she said.

"Why is it so cut-and-shut that he has to die in this country because this country doesn't want to treat him no more?" she asked, naming "Tokyo and Italy".

Archie's family want the 12-year-old to be moved to a hospice if his life support is to be cut off, his sister-in-law, Ella Carter, said on Tuesday.

However Ms Dance said that their legal team described the attitude of the hospital as "brutal", claiming he had been refused a hospice.

Care minister Gillian Keegan hoped he would be moved to a hospice if his life support is withdrawn.

Speaking on LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Ms Keegan said "hospices are there for a reason" and she believed they were best for families during the difficult time.

She told Nick: "There is no doubt that being in a hospice environment in those extremely difficult times – nobody wants to lose a child and it's so sad what's happened to Archie – but being in a hospice does help and it does help the family at the end of that very sad journey.

"I'm a huge fan of children's hospices."

She added: "Hospices are there for a reason and they very much help families."

Ms Dance previously said that it should not be down to other people "to decide where [Archie] takes his last breath" labelling the decision "disgraceful" and "shameful".

"How dare they discriminate against someone who could potentially have disabilities," she said.

"There's so many options in other countries, other countries offer so much hope, so many different treatments.

"Legally we are exploring one more option, but it really is sort of the end. Very disappointed.

"I just wanted to spend the day with Archie today. I hadn't had a lot of sleep. I'm drained. I will continue to fight right until the bitter end.

"I just think it's disgraceful. It's absolutely shameful. Is that the way forward in this country then? We're allowed to execute children?

"We can't take him home, can't do anything. It's not right. We haven't even got that choice. Archie's my child. It shouldn't be down to other people to decide where he takes his last breath."

Read more: Archie Battersbee's family take fight to Supreme Court just before life support was due to end

Read more: Archie Battersbee's mum slams 'execution' as 12-year-old's life support to be stopped today

Care minister quizzed over tragic Archie Battersbee case

Alistair Chesser, chief medical officer for Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs Royal London Hospital, said: "Our deepest sympathies remain with Archie's family and we aim to provide the best possible support to everyone at this difficult time.

"As directed by the courts, we will work with the family to prepare for the withdrawal of treatment, but we will make no changes to Archie's care until the outstanding legal issues are resolved."

Following the submission to the European Court of Human Rights, Ms Dance, said: "We are very relieved. We are having to battle every decision with the hospital.

"We now hope and pray that the ECHR will look favourably on the application. We will not give up on Archie until the end."

The 12-year-old has been in a coma since he was found unconscious by Ms Dance in early April and is being kept alive by a combination of medical interventions.

The family held a bedside vigil at the hospital overnight on Wednesday, playing Archie's favourite songs and TV shows.

Ms Carter revealed the 12-year-old, who was a keen martial arts fighter, was also played messages sent to him by boxing stars.

"They're constantly talking to him and telling him what's been going on with the family and his friends," she said.

Ms Dance and Archie's father, Paul Battersbee, were granted a Court of Appeal hearing on Monday after the Government asked judges to urgently consider a request from a UN committee to keep treating Archie while it reviews his case.

However, after considering the matter, three judges refused to postpone the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.

They also refused to grant permission to appeal against their ruling at the Supreme Court.

A panel of three justices concluded the Court of Appeal "made the correct decision".